Dragon Riders

Chapter 9

Hiccup was on the back of Toothless as they flew across the blue
sky. Hiccup was wearing his helmet and riding gear. It looked to be
another clear beautiful day that was perfect for flying. The two glided
along the sky like it was just another day of flying and that being
captured by Drago was just some horrible nightmare.

Hiccup
looked in front of him to see that they were heading into some heavy
grey clouds. Hiccup, for some reason, allowed Toothless to guide him
into the storm. The young dragon rider questioned why he did that, but
felt like he had no control over his body. He then heard the sound of
flapping wings as he turned his head to see a large band of dragons
flying beside them. He lifted his arm as he commanded the dragons to go.

The herd of dragons flew off fast towards their
destination. Hiccup watched them leave and then looked down below them
at the ruins of broken ships and body of ocean that was red with blood.
Hiccup saw bodies stick out of the water as he looked closer to see that
they were people he knew. Tortel, Ordindal, Bertha, Skur, Erien,
Camicazi, even his mother, Valka were lying in the bloody water
alongside their dragons.

Hiccup felt like he was going
to vomit at the site. He looked away as he saw that the armor on his arm
was different. Taking a good look at himself, he saw that all of his
flying gear had changed from its once black, brown, and green armor to
black and grey with dragon scales. His once black shoulder armor did not
hold the red Night Fury mark that's once adorned it. Instead it was
replaced with Drago's mark.

Horror filled Hiccup as
Toothless dived down towards the water. Hiccup's body pulled itself
closer to the dragon as Toothless started to glide again. Hiccup's eyes
widen in horror when he saw that they were coming towards the fleet of
Drago's ships. In front of the ships, to where the boats were heading,
was a heavy cloud of fog that was thick. Toothless flew to the largest
ship that once held them captive. The dragon dropped onto the deck as
they came next to Drago himself.

The dark Persian man
smiled at him before he turned back to look forward. Drago gave a mighty
yell as the fog in front of them. As if by command, the fog began to
lift. Hiccup too raised his inferno blade as well. In the sky the
dragons flew down towards the fog. The fog began to clear up to show
that the place they were attacking….was Berk

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Hiccup
sprang upwards and let out a scream of fright. His body was dripping
with sweat from the horrible nightmare. It felt so real. It…terrified
Hiccup.

The boy hugged himself as he tried to calm himself down.
Hiccup then heard a whisper coming from next to him as he saw Astrid rub
her eyes tiredly.

"What's wrong?" Astrid was indeed worried about Hiccup, but tiredness from her deep sleep still encased her.

"If felt….so real" Hiccup pulled his legs into his chest as he buried himself in his knees. The nightmare traumatized him.

"What was it about?" Astrid looked through the bars at Hiccup worriedly.

Hiccup
decided it would be best to tell Astrid so he crawled to the barred
wall that separated them. He began to tell her about his dream and how
it was connected to what Drago told him yesterday. He saw as Astrid
became more worried as she rubbed her finger along Hiccup's hand as a
form of comfort.

"We need to get out of here" Hiccup looked at Astrid with determination.

"How?"
Astrid also wanted to escape. She did not want Hiccup to turn into
Drago's dragon trainer, let alone have Hiccup's nightmare come true.

Hiccup
backed away from the wall as he began to search the floor. He felt
around on the floor for something, anything. A nail, spare bolt, even a
small rock would suffice. He needed something to maybe break open the
door. Or allow him to at least undo one of the bars to get his hand
through.

Suddenly footsteps were heard, as they came down the
corridor to the prisoners' cells. Hiccup had his back to the man and did
not turn around.

"I see you're up. Finally. Drago wants you to get started right away with training his dragons."

Hiccup
didn't need to turn to see who it was. The boy could not believe that
the Gods had given him this perfect chance. He just smiled as he knew it
was the one man who gets pissed of real easy. He let the smirk faultier
as got up from his spot to turn and look bored at Eret.

"No" Brushing off the dirt on his arms, Hiccup didn't even look up at the man.

Eret
gritted his teeth at the rebellious late teen. "Drago wants them
trained now boy! I would do what we say or…." He looked over at Astrid
who glared at him.

"You won't hurt her" Hiccup glared darkly at the Hunter.

Astrid
watched the two glare at each other back and forth before getting at
what Hiccup was doing. She sat up and brushed off her shirt. "You really
think I'm afraid of you." Resting her hand on her side as she smirk at
the hunter. "You turned your tail and ran when you tried to attack Berk"

Anger rose in Eret when the girl began to mock him. "If I remember correctly, I gave up willingly"

"Same
thing from where I'm standing" Hiccup leaned his side against the
barred wall. The boy was mocking at the man in front of him. He saw the
anger rise in the hunter and continued going with his plan. "You're
nothing but a dog for Drago, a measly pet for his master to bark orders
at"

Eret slammed his hand onto the cell door as he glared darkly at the teen. "You're the pet, dragon boy. A rare creature that lives among dragon. You forget your human and you act like a wild beast that needs to be tamed… like your kind"

Hiccup
walked up to the cell door as he slammed his hands on the door and
spoke darkly to the hunter. "That's right hunter, I am part dragon. And I
will never be tame or be tamed by DRAGO BLUDVIST OR ANY OF HIS KIND!" Hiccup heavily breathed as he backed away from the door.

The
hunter began to growl under his breath. Eret had enough of the boy's
childness. If the boy wanted to play rough, then Eret would play rough.
He grabbed a whip off the wall and took the keys from his belt. He put
the key into the lock and a click was heard as a sign of unlocking. The
hunter opened the door as he walked into Hiccup's cell. Giving the whip a
crack, Eret came closer to the boy. "I'm sure Drago won't mind me
teaching you some manners"

"I dare you to try" Hiccup crouched a little and waited for the hunter to make his move.

Eret
let out another crack before he lashed at the boy. The rider allowed
the whip to wrap around his arm as he gave it a big pull. The Hunter
came flying forward as Hiccup pushed forwards and threw a punch at Eret.

It
hit the hunter square in the jaw with such force that Eret fell to the
ground unconscious. As the hunter laid on the floor, Hiccup scrimmaged
through the hunter belongings to get the keys off the man's belt. Once
he had them, Hiccup ran out of the cell and towards Astrid's. Placing
the key in the lock, Hiccup gave it a turn and Astrid's door opened.
They gave each other a hug before Hiccup grabbed her hand.

"Let's get out of here" They ran down the hallway and towards the exit.

They just left. The hunter laid unconscious on the ground in Hiccup's cell.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Once
Hiccup and Astrid reached outside, they took a look around. They saw
that the sun was making it ways into the sky as it lit up the fortress.
They saw guards and soldiers moving about and watching for any
intruders.

Hiccup and Astrid kept to the shadows as they snuck
past the guards. They hid behind crates and barrels to stay out of
sight. The two looked around to see where they could have taken the
dragons. The fortress was large and seemed more like a maze to the
riders or to anyone who didn't know their way around.

Hiccup
looked around until he saw something happening down by the docks. "Over
there" Hiccup whispered to Astrid as they made their way over to the
railing to peak over and look.

Down below on the docks were a few
soldiers moving crates and cages filled with dragons. Hiccup could not
hear what they were saying but gathered from the man holding the scroll
that he was in charge. The lead soldier yelled at the men and pointed
off in the distance. Hiccup guessed it was where the soldiers were
supposed to take the dragons.

Hiccup and Astrid watched them leave
before they followed after them. They went down the stairs and through
the doors trying to stay as far away from the men as possible so they
wouldn't be detected them. The soldiers were leading them to the Dragons
Keep. It was an underground dungeon that held all kinds of dragons in
cages and cells.

As the riders made their way down the stone
corridor that was poorly lit, they passed by cages that held abused
dragons. They passed two Gronkles, that looked at the two walk by them,
with scars and mark that were littering on their body. They passed by a
Scauldron that was severely dehydrated and had cracked skin. It looked
like it could piff at any moment. Small dragons that were cramped into
cages that held too many of them.

Another one that broke Astird's
heart was seeing a Timberjack inside a small cage. Its wings looked
shredded and camped inside the cage because it couldn't even move
without causing itself damage. "What kind of horrible man would….."
Astrid heart broke at sight of ever dragon they passed. She wanted to
unlock the cages to allow the dragons their freedom but Hiccup held her
hand tight and as he pulled her to keep her walking.

"Drago..
That's who" Hiccup gritted his teeth in anger at thought of the Persian
man. He hated the way the dragons were being treated but he couldn't do
anything about it know. He needed to find their dragons and get Astrid
out of here.

Astrid felt Hiccup stop as she looked at Hiccup
before asking what was wrong. Before she could get the words out, Hiccup
pulled Astrid into the wall and used his body as cover in the shadows.

Two
soldiers walked past them as they talked to each other about what
transpired. "That Night Fury's not eating anything we're giving it" "We
need to keep it alive. Drago's orders." The other soldier growled in
anger. "If it dies, we die"

The guards went straight past Hiccup
and Astrid like they didn't see them which was perfect for the riders.
Watching the guards disappear, Hiccup slowly got off Astrid and looked
to make sure they were gone. They both looked at each other before
turning to look in the direction that the soldiers had come from.

It
had to be where they were keeping Toothless. Hiccup just hoped the
Night Fury was okay. He knew is friend was strong… but compared to the
dragons they passed, Hiccup just hoped Toothless would still be okay.

xxxxxxx

Hiccup
and Astrid walked quietly down the hall as they made sure that there
were no guards that would see them. Luckily for them, the dragon seemed
to be unintended for the time being. They made their way down a few more
cages before they came to the one they were looking for.

Inside
was the Night Fury they had come for. What shocked Hiccup the most was
that his friend was strapped down by leather bonds around his legs, arm,
wings, and most of his entire body. The dragon was held up by ropes so
that Toothless was unable to touch the ground. He had a muzzle on his
mouth so he would not fire a single shot at the men. The black dragon
looked to be sleeping or hopefully just unconscious.

"Toothless…" Hiccup put his hand on the cage door and looked at the dragon in hope that his friend wasn't dead.

The
dragon's ear pricked up when Toothless recognized the voice. Cracking
his eyes open, Toothless looked up to see his partner outside the cage
door. The dragon was so happy to see Hiccup that it cried out to the boy
in joy.

Hiccup couldn't help but feel tears prick down his face
in bliss that his friend was alright. "I'm coming Toothless." Hiccup was
about to open the door to Toothless cage before Astrid came running
towards him.

"I can't find Stormfly" Astrid tried to catch her
breath from looking around for her dragon. "I think she got away when we
got captured."

Hiccup nodded his head as he began to pull open Toothless's cage. "Help me with this"

The
two began to pull the door open and slipped inside. Hiccup ran to
Toothless as he took off the muzzle. The happy dragon had his mouth free
as he gave the boy a lick across his face.

Hiccup laughed and gave the black dragon a pat. "I missed you two bud."

All the sudden, shouts were heard down the hallway. Fear struck the two riders as Toothless growled at the voice.

"They're coming" Astrid said as both Hiccup and she quickly took off the rest of the restraints.

The
Night Fury landed itself on the ground. Toothless gave his body a shake
from stiffness of being held in one position. The night fury began to
rubbed himself on Hiccup because he was so happy to see him. When the
voices grew louder the black dragon bared his teeth.

"We need to go. Now!" Hiccup grabbed Astrid hand as they ran out the door with Toothless behind him.

The
riders heard shouts from the men that were behind them. They heard one
of the voices say "There they are!" And it made the riders and dragon
run faster around the halls and through a couple doorways. Hiccup,
Astrid, and Toothless tried to get away from the men so they would get
off their tail. Even Toothless fired a couple shot at them men to slow
them down.

They were far away from the soldiers when they entered a
large empty room. It looked like a giant cave that was underground that
they probably used for storage. The riders both looked around at the
many tunnels/doorways that entered the room. They had no idea where to
go as the voices sound like they were getting closer.

Hiccup
looked around frantically until he saw a hole in the ceiling that was
big enough for Toothless to squeeze through. "You have to go" Hiccup
pushed Astrid towards Toothless as he helped/forced her onto the dragon.

"What about you?" Both Astrid and Toothless looked at Hiccup in worry and were scarred to leave the boy.

"I
have to stay and keep them occupied while you two escape" Hiccup looked
back in the voices direction scared and frantic before he turned back
to the two and pushed them. "If you here they just use you to get to me.
I won't let them hurt you two"

"No" Astrid grabbed Hiccups hand as she pleaded for him to climb on so they can leave.

Hiccup
shook his head as he looked into Astrid's eyes. "Don't worry. I'll get
out of here too. I'll be right behind you." Hiccup knew a lot about
dragons and could easily get a lift off one of them. "I need you to fly
off ahead of me and tell everyone what happened here." Hiccup then
looked at Toothless who coed at him. "Protect Astrid" Giving the dragon a
hug around his head, Hiccup let go and turned to Astrid. "Go. GO!"

Toothless
flew off the ground and towards the crack. Hiccup watched as Astrid
looked behind at Hiccup before they disappeared into the hole. Hiccup
felt the pang of his heart breaking of seeing his lover and best friend
fly off. But that quickly vanished when heard the voices coming towards
him.

Hiccup ran in another direction down the hallway as he tried
to lose the soldiers. He tossed crates and opening cages for dragons to
allow them to escape their confinements and distract the guards. Each
dragon got out of their cage with a rush and started firing at their
tormentors. Angry and hostile the dragons were as the soldiers tried to
defend themselves from the reptiles.

Hiccup watched for a few
seconds before ducking in cover by opening a metal door and closed it
behind him. Holding the door in place, Hiccup looked around frantically
for anything he could use to hold it shut. The boy's eyes widen at what
else he saw it the room with him.

The room was large and dark. The
room was as cold as the glaciers that the dragon riders had surrounded
their home. Hiccup eyes widen as he looked from the chains that littered
the floor to its captor.

It was Bewilderbeast, a large dragon the
filled up half of the room. It had light ash brown fur and brownish red
streaks on its face along with two large tucks. It turned to look at
Hiccup. Bored and curious to see what it was that disturbed its rest, it
was surprised to see that is was a small human.

Hiccup could not
believe what he was seeing. A Bewilderbeast. How…how could Drago
captured the large whale like creature. Hiccup had seen one of these
kinds of dragons before. They were large and were very docile. They were
hardly ever on land, they mostly drifted in the sea like a gigantic
whales. They had beautiful white fur that reminded Hiccup of snow and
ice.

One Bewilderbeast Hiccup knew of would often visit the Dragon
Sanctuary on its trips to the North. It was kind and gentle, and when
Hiccup, Erien, and Camicazi were little, the large dragon would allow
them to play on its tucks as if it were a jungle gym. They would always
love it when the mighty dragon would visit.

Hiccup walked closer
to the large dragon, trying to touch it in hope that it wasn't real.
That all stopped when the door burst open as the soldier changed in.
Hiccup turned around to defend himself when ropes wrapped around his
arms. The men pulled on the ropes to hold the Dragon rider still.

Hiccup
growled and tried to pull free but proved to be no help. Hiccup gave
out a huff in anger as he saw who else came in. It was the hunter.
Hiccup growled fiercely at them man as he came closer to the boy.

Eret had a creepy smirk on his face before he punched Hiccup across the face….